Halloween is a holiday to either trick-or-treat, dress up in whatever you want with no repercussions or to let loose. However, the non-governmental organization Free the Children founded a campaign called “Halloween for Hunger” to help those in need. Instead of asking to be given candy for their own consumption, participants go door-to-door asking for non-perishable food items to be donated to food banks.

This year, Wilfrid Laurier University ran another successful Halloween for Hunger campaign on the eve of Oct. 31, with numerous student groups partnering up to cover Kitchener-Waterloo area.

These groups included Free the Children, the Laurier Food Bank, Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) and many more.

Anica Chodri, one of the presidents of the Free the Children club at Laurier, has been involved with the organization since high school. She said that the groups were “assigned to different streets to trick-or-treat.”

Before Halloween, flyers are sent out to residents to inform them of the cause and Chodri said that, “people know to have [the food] on the side.” The K-W community plays a critical role in ensuring that the event is successful.

Halloween for Hunger is a great opportunity to raise awareness about the hunger of those who are less fortunate. Jaclyn Stief, the promotions executive for the Laurier Food Bank, also pointed out more benefits about the initiative.

“It’s a great opportunity because it brings all these groups together over a common cause.”

—Jaclyn Stief, promotions executive for WLU Food Bank

“It’s a great opportunity because it brings all these groups together over a common cause,” she said.

This partnership was surely successful as the shelves in the 24 hour Lounge were full when only half the food had been counted.

Last year 1,000 cans were collected and the results of this year looked even more promising.

When asked whether more food had been raised than last year, Josh Proksch, the co-coordinator for the Laurier Food Bank responded positively.

“I definitely think we have a lot more food than last year,” he asserted, adding that this can this definitely be attributed to the larger number of people coming out to volunteer.